Pre-tied four-in-hand neckties



May 1, 1962 M. M. MILLER EIAL PRE-TIED FOUR-IN-HAND NECKTIES Filed Sept. 22, 1959 INVENTORS MYRON M. MILLER RICHARD J. M FALLS RAYMOND L. HUNTLEY 7 164 20.4 9,

ATTORNEY FIG. 6

United States atent Office 3,031,679 Patented May 1, 1962 3,031,679 PRE-TIED FOUR-IN-HAND NECKTIES Myron M. Miller, Latham, and Richard J. McFalls and Raymond L. Huntley, Troy, N.Y., assignors to Cluett,

Peabody & Co., Inc., Troy, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 22, 1959. Ser. No. 841,479 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-153) This invention relates to pretied four-in-hand neckties and to a method of tying the necktie blank on a form. More particularly, it relates to a pretied necktie having a natural appearing, tightly drawn knot including a dimple fold extending below the knot and to the method of tying the knot.

There have been many attempts over the years to produce a natural appearing, pretied knot having a dimple fold in the knot area and extending below the knot. These prior attempts have. included the use of special molded forms and the use of heat set liner plies. To the best of the applicants knowledge, none of the prior art devices have produced a pretied four-in-hand necktie which has been commercially acceptable. The greatest defect of these prior pretied neckties was due to the artificial flat look in the knot area which was caused by the manner of tying and securing the necktie blank on the form.

The applicants have devised a novel combination of stitching which accomplishes the pretied natural appearing knot without the heretofore artificial flat look. The applicants pretied necktie resembles a hand tied necktie to such a degree that difference cannot be detected by the most fastidious of men. The novel combination includes a simple dimple forming stitch which leaves the edges of the necktie blank free; a manner of tying the necktie blank on the molded form; and a knot shaping retaining stitch which enhances the natural appearance of the knot and also secures the necktie blank on the form.

It will be noted as more fully explained hereinafter that the applicants method of forming the necktie dimple and securing the knot is easily performed and requires a minimum of skill and cost while attaining the desired results of a natural appearing pretied necktie.

An object of the present invention therefore is the formation of a pretied four-in-hand knot necktie which has a natural appearance and is indistinguishable from a hand tied necktie.

Another object of the present invention is a pretied necktie having a natural appearing tightly drawn, pretied knot and/or including a visible dimple fold and which is formed without the addition of extra inserts, specially shaped forms or heat settable liners.

Another object of the present invention is a pretied necktie which is easily formed using a minimum number of manufacturing operations and skill.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pretied four-in-hand necktie embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial elevation of a necktie blank folded along its center line to illustrate placement of a dimple stitch in the knot forming area;

FIG. 3 is a view of the back of the necktie blank shown in FIG. 2, but in its unfolded condition;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along the line IVIV of FIG. 3 to more clearly show the dimple stitch;

FIGS. 5 through 7 illustrate the steps of tying the necktie blank on the plastic form; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged rear view of the formed knot shown in FIG. 1.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a natural appearing pretied four-in-hand necktie 10 is illustrated on a plastic form. Although other forms may be used, we have chosen a resilient plastic form of simple construction having cars 12 and 13 extending at a suitable angle to the rear and forming a Y. The plastic form also includes a hook portion 14, seen in FIG. 8 which is positioned over the collar of a shirt with the cars 22 and 24 extending beneath the cape portion of a collar when the pretied necktie is positioned on a shirt by the wearer. The plastic form forms no part of the present invention and is illustrated as a convenient form on which the present invention may be practiced.

The necktie blank 15 is constructed in the manner well known with the exception that the present blank 15 is shorter than standard four-in-hand necktie blanks because it is to be tied over a form rather than around the wearers neck, thereby permitting the neck encircling length of the blank to be omitted. The forming of such blanks 10 is well known and will not be described herein.

The necktie blank 15 includes a front face 16, a liner ply 17 and a rear face 18, as seen in FIG. 4. The front face 16 and rear face 18 are in reality a single piece of fabric enclosing the liner ply 17.

The necktie blank 15 first is folded along its vertical center line 20 (FIG.,2) so that the front face 16 of the blank 15 is enclosed on itself. A machine tack stitch 22 is then passed through all the fabric layers of the folded necktie blank 15. The tack stitch 2-2 is positioned in the knot tying portion 23 of the blank 15 and adjacent to the vertical center line 22 to form a small gathering in the knot tying portion 23 when the necktie blank 15 is unfolded (FIG. 3).

The necktie is then unfolded, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and it will be noted that the machine tack stitch 22 has only produced a gathering in the center of the knot tying portion 23 and has left the edges of the blank 15 free of stitches to assure a natural appearance when the necktie blank 15 is tied on the form.

In tying the necktie blank 15 on the plastic form, the blank 15 is placed over the plastic form between the ears 12 and 13 so that the small end 26 extends to the front of the form. The large end 27 of the blank 15 extends through the Y and to the rear of the car 13, as shown in FIG. 5. The large end 27 next is passed under the ear 13 and across the front of the plastic form and the short end 26 of the necktie blank 15 as shown in FIG. 6. The large end 27 could have extended behind the car 12 and across the front of the form in the opposite direction if desired.

A reverse loop 29, shown in FIG. 7, is then formed in the large end 27 and is placed over the ear 12 of the form.

The respective lengths of the ends 26 and 27 of the blank 15, as positioned over the form, are such as to provide matching lower ends when the knot 31 is pulled tight. The dimple 30, formed by the tack stitch 22, extends below the knot 31 when the knot is pulled tight in a natural appearing manner and centrally of the edges of the necktie knot.

The necktie knot is held firmly in its tied position by a double lock stitch 32 which is positioned below the hook 14 of the plastic form, as seen in FIG. 8. This double lock stitch 32 draws together the base of the knot 31 closely about the ends 26 and 27 at the point that they extend below the knot 31. This lock stitch 32 not only secures the necktie 10 to the form, but also imparts a natural wedge shaped look to the knot 31 such as is found in a hand tied knot and further accents the dimple 30 extending from beneath the knot 31. The lock stitch 32 in pulling the base of the knot 31 together below the form eliminates the loose flat look of the knot area possessed by other pretied neckties where the blank has been pulled against the form itself.

It will be seen by those skilled in the art that we have provided a pretied necktie which eliminates the artificial look of the pretied knot and possesses a natural appearing knot which is indistinguishable from the usual hand tied knot. It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials and arrangement of parts, which have been described herein and illustrated in order to explain the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art and within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claim.

We claim:

A pretied four-in-hand necktie, including a necktie blank having a tack stitch extending across the center line of the blank in a knot forming area to leave the ends thereof free in said knot forming area, said tack stitch extending through all fabric plies of the necktie blank and between two points on the back face thereof, said knot forming area of said blank being tied in a triangular shaped knot on a generally triangular shaped form such that the apex and base portions of said knot and form overlap and said tack stitch lies within said knot and causes a dimple fold to extend centrally below said knot, and a lock stitch drawn tightly between spaced points on the edges of the portion of the necktie blank forming the rear of said knot which are located immediately below the apex of said generally triangular shaped form, said lock stitch preventing the removal of said necktie blank from about said form and drawing the apex portion of the knot into a tight, generally cylindrical shape which increases the depth of the dimple fold.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,990,167 Cloke Feb. 5, 1935 1,993,817 Zieber Mar. 12, 1935 2,114,376 Goldman Apr. 19, 1938 2,347,708 Naftali et a1. May 2, 1944 2,798,226 Kanter July 9, 1957 2,931,045 France Apr. 5, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 603,991 Great Britain June 25, 1948 946,498 France Dec. 20, 1 948 

